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Game Review

Castle Crashers – Game Review

EVIL WIZARD CRASHERS YOUR FEAST-IVAL, STEALS YOUR PRINCESSES AND TRASHERS UR MOAT -WHAT WOULD MACGYVER DO?

From the game studio that brought the insanely frenetic shooter Alien Hominid, Behemoth has hit that magical happy medium of crazy classic gaming that is addictive, zany and with outlandish tongue in cheek humour with a modern comic style. Castle Crashers is ripped straight from the pages of arcade legends such as Golden Axe and Streets of Rage making it to XboxLive Arcade and refreshing the home console system.

If you want a fun and easy to pick up game then Castle Crashers fits the bill. Using a 2D flash illustrated styling, Castle Crashers plays homage to the side scrolling Sword & Scorceror genre and has endearing, cute graphics. Thankfully it doesn’t cut down on the slapstick and gore which is overflowing in this adventure.

Play as a number of Knight heroes in story mode and battle against Barbarians, Peasants, Dark Knights in this fantasy romp. Your job as a Knight is to save the princesses from their captors and to defeat the evil Wizard who crashed your party. An assortment of formidable and somewhat bizarre weapons keep the hack and slash from being too monotonous and the barrage of enemies make for novel entertainment. You also get familiars which you can enlist their special powers to pick up secret items or give you an advantage against your foes. Pet Nurse gives you advice and insight into the powers of the familiars and your local blacksmith has a storage frog for your weapons.

Minibosses are consistent during gameplay and each level provides an adequate progression in the storyline. My favourite part of this game is the secret weapons and pop culture references such as the Cyclops death scene. Also the UFO level pays respect to the zany Alien Hominid and a nod to the game developers.

Gameplay is broken up by the ability to gain more weapons, replenishing stocks and Level up points. Ingame diversions is the gladiator stadium rounds where you need to defeat ever growing numbers of foes without dying.

The outlandish character styles makes for an entertaining game and moreover enjoyable alternative gameplay with XboxLive and All you Can Quaff eating competition that pushes your button sequence speed to the max.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game on the first level. Although the levels can be tiresome on replay, the secrets are worthwhile for a second comb of the scenery. Unlocking items is a good way to pass the time however the button mashing gets a little passé. A downside is the glitches that it suffers which can hamper your enjoyment in story and Live. This is a fun game for quick hack n slash action that all ages could enjoy.

GAMEPLAY: 70%

They didn’t go wrong with Golden Axe and justice has been done with this comic animated style. The boomerang is awesome.

GRAPHICS: 80%

Decent looking game with comical themes and animation.

SOUND: 60%

A step up from the Arcade games of the 90s with the option to turn it off and play your own music possibly from the movie Willow.

PLAYABILITY: 70%

Easy to play but requires repeat levels for upgrading.

OVERALL: 70%

Whacky and funny humour makes it a cheap gem for the arcade collection.

CASTLE CRASHERS IS AVAILABLE NOW FOR XBOX360 LIVE ARCADE

Trailer

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Original written for Sauce Magazine. Republished by Permission.

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About The Author

Sooki-monster

Tiarne aka Sooki-monster is the only member of the current (Cool) Shite line up that is allowed to not have a beard. When she isn't drawing long bows and making puns, you will find her attached to a console, normally the Xbox360 and wondering why Bruce wants to watch another weird film.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
  • Author: Sooki-monster
  • Filed Under: Games, Review, XBOX360
Tags: , , , ,

Comments

One Response to “Castle Crashers – Game Review”
  1. Steve Steve says:

    Yay for Sooki-reviews! ;)

    June 9, 2009 at 4:01 pm

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